H.S. programs draw future students

While most freshmen are just now beginning to get used to the college lifestyle, others arrived to their dorms having already experienced life at Penn.

The University offers a wide variety of high schools programs that often lure participants eager to join the Penn community.

In these highly competitive academically oriented programs, students can live in a college dorm for the first time, eat in dining halls, take classes and, in some cases, even receive full college credit for their efforts.

The programs have hefty price tags, often running into the thousands, but those who run them say it's worth it.

"Having the opportunity to take undergraduate classes at the University is great," said Assistant Director of Summer Sessions John Krebs, who heads three high school summer programs through the College of General Studies.

He added, "And the chance for these students to contact a lot of very interesting people -- peers as well as faculty -- is also really extraordinary."

CGS offers a pre-college arts studio, which takes students out of the classroom and into local museums and galleries. There is also a standard pre-college program in which students take two classes and eat in Penn dining halls, as well as the Penn Summer Science Academy, which exposes high school upperclassmen to physics or biomedical programs of study.

But doing a pre-college program at Penn doesn't directly translate into undergraduate admission.

"There's no special entry that students in this program receive, and that's an important message we try to get across to parents," Krebs said.

But for budding professionals, the diversity of Penn's programs is an attractive resume-booster.

Wharton has its own share of pre-college programs. There is Leadership Education and Development in Business, which selects 30 students from around the nation and exposes them to lectures from business executives and shared teamwork activities.

Leadership in the Business World, which will be going into its seventh year this summer, has a similar mission.

Ross Leimberg, a junior in Wharton and Engineering, has been a resident team adviser -- "like an RA" and a teaching assistant, he said -- for two years, and now assists the program's director.

"It surpassed my expectations both years that I ran it," Leimberg said.

He added, "I wasn't a student in it, but from the professional end it was exceptional. We packed every day to the max."

Wharton junior Jany Xu did LBW after her junior year of high school.

"I had a wonderful time, met people from all over the world ... and bonded with my current best friend," Xu said. "I think it definitely gave me a taste of college life."

For those who want to learn more about computer graphics, the School of Engineering and Applied Science has recently instituted the Summer Academy for Applied Science and Technology.

There is only one program, computer graphics, under SAAST thus far, but Joseph Sun, director of academic affairs for SEAS, hopes to add more in the future, including a pre-college management and technology program slated to debut next summer.

Students who enroll in SAAST "gain a world-class introductory immersion experience in computer graphics," said Sun, adding that many of the participants did not have extensive CG experience.

"There was one participant who didn't have any experience but who found this program very interesting. She is now pursuing admission into computer graphics programs in college," Sun said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.